Mooring apparatus for submarine mines.



J. A. REY.

MOORING APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE MINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18. 1913.

1,151,903. Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. A. REY.

MUORING APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE MINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18. 1913.

1 1 5 1 ,903 Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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JEAN ALEXANDRE REY, 0F PARIS, FRANCE.

MOORING APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE MINES.

Application filed June 18, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JEAN ALEXANDRE REY, a citizen of the French Republic, and residing at 26 Avenue de Sufli'ren, Paris, France, engineer, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mooring Apparatus for Submarine Mines, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification.

Submarine mines are in existence at the present time in which after immersion of the mine, the lead acting by its own weight upon suitable mechanism, allows the drum upon which the mooring cable is wound, to unwind freely. I

In order to prevent the drum from unwinding when the anchor or mooring mechanism is raised by a pull upon the cable various arrangements have already been proposed for preventing the lead from coming into action a second time. Before again mooring the mine, it is only necessary again to set the locking mechanism by hand in order to enable the lead line to act.

According to the present invention, the arrangement of the apparatus parts is such that the fact of the buoy being or resting upon its anchor or mooring mechanism insures the ability of the lead line to act so as to permit the drum to unwind freely. In the present arrangement, the necessary setting or resetting of the locking mechanism is effected through the medium of a part which is arranged to be actuated automatically when the buoy is placed on its anchor. This may be accomplished by arranging the part in question at the top portion of the mooring mechanism in such a manner that the buoy, when placed upon its anchor, engages and thereby actuates said part.

In the accompanying drawings is illustrated diagrammatically mooring mechanism provided with a typical arrangement of apparatus parts embodying the present invention.

In these drawings, Figures 1, 2 and 3 are sectional diametral views of the mechanism showing the diii'erent positions of the members during the operation of mooring.

Referring to the drawings, a is a casing upon which the buoy rests, said casing comprising, with its attached parts, the mine anchor or mooring mechanism. Said casing contains the drum 0 upon which is wound the mooring cable d entering the casing Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

Serial No. 774,302.

through a suitable aperture in the top thereof. A lead or weight 6, when not in use, may be carried on a hook e, as shown in Fig. 1. 'As indicated, the hook is shaped so as readily to release the lead 6 when it is desired to release the latter and permit it to become pendant, as shown in Fig. 2. Said lead 1s connected by its line f to the tail of a pawl g or other suitable detent member, provlded with a spring 9 normally tending to draw the tail of thepivoted pawl upward and thereby to force the nose of the pawl into engagement with teeth h, arranged on the drum periphery and thus to hold the drum stationary. p

The weight of the lead is suflicient to overcome the tension of spring 9', and the lead thereforeoperates when pendant, to draw the pawl out of engagement with the drum, except when such movement of the pawl is prevented by suitable locking mechanism of some kind. Inthe present example, such lockmg mechanism comprises a bell crank lever z pivoted at 2", whose upper arm tends to move upwardly, by reason of the tension of spring j attached thereto. Thisarm or leverz' projects through a hole or slot is formed in the setting rod Z which is vertically movable through a suitable aperture in the top of the casing. The tension of spring j is sutficient to draw up lever 71 and also the rod Z, unless such movement is restrained in some Way. The lower arm of bell crank lever i is hooked or notched as at m to form a latch adapted to engage the tail of the pawl 9, when the pawl is in looking position and when the latch m is swung sufliciently far to the left by operation of the spring j. Vhen the latch thus engages the tail of the pawl, the lead line mechanism is thereby looked, as shown in Fig. 8, the lead being now inoperative to release the pawl from its locking engagement with the cable drum, as long as rod & remains in its elevated position shown in Fig. 3. The buoy when placed in position upon its anchor presses the rod Z downwardly as shown in Fig. 1, thereby throwing latch m to the right and disengaging the tail of pawl g. This places said pawl in readiness to be drawn out of locking engagement with the drum by the lead 6 acting through its line f.

It may be stated that the buoy and its anchor are usualy launched from a vessel or the like when the parts are assembled as from its hook, as shown, it may be released by hand before throwing the mine into the water; or it may be released automatically from the hook by the buoyant actionof the water at the moment of launching. Generally, however, the lead is released even before the assemblage has touched the water it being the practice to launch the same from-- the vessel at a considerable inclination there to. In either case, the lead becomes pendulous from the tail of the pawl g and thereby withdrawsthe pawl from engagement with the drum topermit free rotation thereof. This permits theanchor to SllillfilBGlY, the buoy remaining at the surface. As soon as the buoy leaves its anchor, the downward thrust on the setting rod Z" 1s immed ately released. This would at once permlt spring j to turn bell crank leyer 2' about its pivot and throw the latch on intolts operative position toward the left. It isto-be understood that when thela'tch has assumed this position, if the tension on the lead line has been suddenly reduced, as is the case when the lead strikes bottom, the tension of the spring'g is sufficient to draw the pawl tai-l upward and thereby to move latch on slightly to the right against the pressure of springj: When the pawl tail has passed beyond thenotchof the latch, the latch- 1s againdrawn. tothe left", thereby prevent ng any further-action of the lead and 1ts-l1ne on the pawl, and" the cable drum thus being locked against rotation.

()wingito the fact that the lead is apt to oscillate vertically for a few moments after the mine islaunched, it is desirable to pro vide some-means to insure that the latch we shall not be drawn to'the left too soon, after the mine is launched, otherwise the oscillations of the lead might soreduce the tensionof lead line 7 that the pawl might be drawn upward and be locked prematurely by the latch; m.

Any suitablemeansmay be provided to guard. against this contingency. In the present instance there is provided an arrangement similar to a clock escapement, comprising aseries of collars it formed on the settingrod Z with which'is adaptedto coiiperate a crutch device having two arms '0 and '0", which are separately rotatable about an axis 2?. One of the arms 0-" for example, is shorter than the other, and the spring Q tends todraw the arms toward each other. Between the arms is arranged to revolve a suitable cam r which is fast with the axles of the drum.

The device just described operates as follows :v At the moment of launching the rod Z having been previously forced down by the buoy'intothe position illustrated in Fig. 1, is engaged by one or the other of the arms 0, 0. As soon as the mine is launched, the

arms 0 and 0 of the escapement mechanism,

the spring 9 at the same time bringingthe other arm of the crutch device into engagement with one ofthe collars 02. As a consequence, the rod Z is raised by spring 7' slowly, step by step, the rod attaining its highestposition only after a certain num-vv ber of; turns of the drum axle s. As a result, the latch m does not reach the position shown in FigsQ and 8 forsome moments after the mine is launched, and by this-time the lead 6 has ceased its vertical oscillations and hangs quietly from the tail of the pawl. When the lead touches bottom, the tension on the line f ceases and-the pawl tail is drawn upwardly, passes thelatch m, which immediately springs back toprevent the tail being pulled downward again, and the drum is instantly locked against further rotation. All this takes place shortly before the anchor itself reaches the bottom. As no more rope can unwind from the drum, further movement of the mine toward the bottom draws with it the buoy, the buoy" or mine being thus anchored permanently a predetermined distance below the surface ofthe water.

What I claim and desire'to secure-by Lettors-Patent is 1. Mooringappara-tus for submarine mines comprising the combination, with an anchor provided with a rotatable cabl'e drum, d'etent means arranged when unrestrained to lock said drum, anda pendulous member arranged when pendant to restrain said de-.

tent and to hold the same-inoperative, of a device arranged to prevent further action ofsaid pendulous means after thedrumhas become locked, and mechanism for-rendering said device inoperative while the anchor is substantially in contact with the buoy with which itis used, said mechanism being arrangedto be actuated by bringing such buoy and the anchor substantially into mutual contact. 1 1 2. Mooring apparatus for-submarine mines comprising the combination with an anchor provided with a rotatable cabl'e drum, detent means arranged when unrestrained to lock said drum, and a pendulous member arranged when pendant to-restrai-n said detent and to-hold the same inoperative, of'a device arranged to prevent fur-theraction' of said pendn-lousmeansafter the drum has become locked, mechanism" for rendering said deviceinoperative while the anchor is substantially in contact with the buoy withwhich it is used, said mechanism being arranged to be actuated by bringing such buoy and the anchor substantially into mutual contact, and means for insuring operation of said mechanism for a suitable period after separation of the anchor and such buoy.

3. Mooring apparatus for submarine mines comprising the combination, with a buoy, an anchor provided with a rotatable cable drum, and a cable secured to the buoy and passing around said drum, of a detent member adapted to lock the drum against rotation, a Weight adapted when freely pendant to hold said detent out of locking position, means arranged to prevent action of said weight after the drum has once become locked, and an escapement device arranged to restrain such preventing means from operating until after a predetermined number of drum rotations.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JEAN ALEXANDRE REY.

Witnesses:

HANSON C. Coxn, GASTON DE Mns'rRAL.

Copiesof this patent may be obtained for five' cents eaeh, by addressing" the Commissioner offllatents, Washington, D. G. 

